According to Experts, You May Be Micro-Cheating On Your Partner If You

According to Experts, You May Be Micro-Cheating On Your Partner If You ...

Infidelity in general is incredibly common in modern society, yes — but what a lot of people don't realize is that you do NOT have to physically sleep with someone who isn't your partner to be considered a cheater. You don't have to secretly go on dates or actually go out of your way to date at all. You may just be a micro-cheater without realizing it.

Micro-cheating is a term that describes a series of seemingly small actions that, when taken together, point to the fact that you are mentally or physically focused OUTSIDE your relationship. If you really want to figure out whether or not you've been micro-cheating, there are a few key signs the experts want you to know about.

You Check Your Ex's Social Media Feed on a Regular Basis

One of the best ways to tell if you're micro-cheating on your partner is, thankfully, also one of the easiest. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others have made it incredibly easy to check up on those people who may have fallen out of our lives at some point in the past. But if you find yourself regularly checking up on your ex to see if they're still single ... you just might be micro-cheating without realizing it.

But simply trying to figure out if they're currently with someone is one thing. If you find yourself on the hunt for signs that they may be in an unhappy relationship, you've got a world of problems on your hands.

The Wandering Mind

Another clear sign that you might be micro-cheating on your partner is if you find yourself thinking a great deal about someone else throughout the day. It could be a co-worker, it could be a casual acquaintance. It doesn't matter — if you find yourself not only thinking about them often but also actively looking forward to spending time with them or talking with them in the not-too-distant future, you're definitely looking at a sign that you're a micro-cheater whether you realize it or not.

You're Secretive When It Comes to Technology

One of the most obvious signs that you're micro-cheating on your partner is if you act like you've got something to hide when it comes to technology ... even if this isn't necessarily the case. If you're the type of person who compulsively clears your browsing history as soon as you get up from your computer, it may be because you subconsciously note that you don't want your partner to know who you're interacting with.

Note that smartphone manufacturers have also thrown a wrinkle into what USED to be a clear sign of micro-cheating in this category: Adding a password on your phone. Five years ago, adding a password was definitely a sign of something sinister — nobody in their right mind would do that. Flash forward to today, however, and you can't use features on your phone like Apple Pay WITHOUT setting up a fingerprint ID and associated password. But if your partner asks to add his or her fingerprint to gain the ability to unlock your phone and your first instinct is to refuse ... well, that's another story.

The "Innocent" Dating Profile

Finally (and perhaps most aggressively), if you find yourself creating a dating profile even though you're in a monogamous relationship, you're looking at another definitive sign that there is some micro-cheating going on.

It doesn't actually matter why you told yourself you set up the profile in the first place. Maybe you were just curious about how that new site that you keep seeing TV commercials for works. Maybe you just want to see the types of people who live in your area, or meet "casual friends" and think this is the best way to do it. Ninety-nine percent of people use dating sites for the exact same thing and you probably are too, whether you realize it or not. If that dating profile happens to be an app like Bumble or Tinder, then you can go ahead and write the word "micro-cheater" on a whiteboard and underline it.